The Lawyer, the Engineer, and the Redhead
by dnapolymerase314
Summary: Thalia's working at Dare Enterprises and guess who she keeps running into? That's right, her ex-boyfriend Nico and his annoying little redheaded girlfriend. Sequel to "Aphrodite's Summer Plans".
1. Chapter 1

**The Sequel you all (hopefully) have been waiting for…**

**Let's assume that both Nico and Thalia are in their early twenties (I don't want to make it too specific because then it gets confusing). BTW I need an OC, see bottom for details.**

**Thalia's POV**

Ugh have I ever mentioned how much I hate the morning? Especially Monday mornings? Yes maybe I've graduated from MIT with a degree in both business and engineering but that doesn't mean I'm not entitled to complain. Annabeth doesn't understand. Oh well.

I snuck a peek at the alarm clock. 6:57. Crap! I have a job interview at 7:30! I got out of bed and looked in the mirror. Darn it. This is gonna be a long morning.

I took a five minute shower and slipped on a black pencil skirt and a nice white blouse. Not really my style, but I looked professional. I slid on my favorite pair of heels, my black prom heels that I never had the heart to throw out because of…well never mind. That's the past. I put on minimal makeup, some eyeliner (but not enough to look my style, punk), mascara and some lip gloss.

I stuffed a waffle in my mouth while I attempted to make my hair look presentable. I failed epically so I put it up into a ponytail. I looked at the time. 7:13. Phew. I had time to catch a taxi.

I hailed a cab and waited in silence. I looked down at the job description which I had found online and had printed out.

_Dare Enterprises_

_Dare Enterprises have recently made a move to become more "green" or more environmentally friendly. Unfortunately it has come to our notice that our departments are severally lacking in this aspect. In order to combat this problem Dare Enterprises is creating a new department, The Department for the Regulation of Creation and Expansion of Environmentally Friendly Products, or more conventionally known as "The Green Department". We have already obtained members for this department to work on the interior, however we are in need of a head of the Green Department._

The description went on and on but I didn't bother reading it. Well I've already read it a million times and I knew that I was adequately qualified for this job and NO ONE was going to take it from me. Not to mention the starting salary (coughcough $150,000 per year coughcough).

The ride was over and I paid the driver. Dare Enterprises was a huge building because it was an extremely successful company. I opened the door and calmly walked into the CEO's office. I can do this.

**-One really long hour later-**

Yes! I got the job! I was gonna start doing my whole victory dance right there in the middle of the hall when I saw some people walking down the hall. Two people in fact, a tiny redhead and…_Nico?_

I was torn. Should I go over there and slap him or should I go over there and slap the girl? Hmm you're probably wondering what happened…in that case…

_*Flashback*_

_Thalia woke up feeling terrible. She realized her throbbing headache was the result of a killer hangover. She groaned and pulled herself up. She looked around. There were discarded glasses everywhere and the place was a mess. The stench of alcohol was so strong that even Dionysus would have gagged. _

Where am I? _she thought before realizing this was the debris of the graduation (from college) party. She stumbled out of the living room. She went upstairs and opened a random door. She looked inside and her jaw dropped. _

_Nico was laying there sleeping half-naked with a…erm…more naked Rachel on top. In her mind there was no doubt what he did last night. _

_Thalia hailed a cab to take herself home. She pulled out her phone and texted Nico two small but painful words: _We're over. _She even cried for half an hour. Then she pulled herself together and promised herself that she'd never shed a tear over him again._

_*End flashback*_

Don't ask why I flashback in third person. Bad habit. Anyways back to present. So Nico and his little girlfriend were walking down the hall. Wait a second. Rachel Dare. Dare Enterprises. HOW DID I NOT PUT THAT TOGETHER? Stupid Thalia! But in my defense, 'Dare' is a pretty common name. Grr.

"Hey Thalia." Rachel said with a trace of smugness, "Fancy seeing you here." Liar. Have I ever mentioned how much I hated Rachel? Actually I used to like her back when she was the Oracle but then apparently she went through puberty or something and decided that she wanted to date so she dumped the job of Oracle on some poor chum from Apollo's cabin. Sadly she can still see through the Mist so I can't even get away with anything.

"Hello." I said as politely as I could, "Just here for a job interview."

"Really? For what?" she asked.

"Head of the Green Department." I replied.

"Well good luck." She smirked, "Daddy's not giving that job to _anyone _you know. He's already interviewed about twenty people for it."

Daddy? Crap.

"Really…" I said evenly, "Because I've just been accepted." Take that! Muh hahaha.

"Congratulations!" Nico said, speaking for the first time.

I nodded but didn't meet his eyes, "Thanks."

"Omigod that is so cool. So we'll see each other more often?" Rachel sqeauled. NO!

"Sure." I said. This game was becoming increasing hard to play, "Well today's my last day of freedom, I start tomorrow. Bye." I started walking toward the elevator when I heard a voice call my name.

"Thalia!" Nico called. I turned around slowly.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I…um…never mind. See you around." I nodded again and left.

**Nico's POV**

Is it just me or did Thalia get prettier? Um…scratch that…I have a girlfriend. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the little redhead who's glued to my side. Now I bet you're wondering why I'm here?

Well I graduated from Harvard with a degree in law *smug*. I met Rachel and one thing led to another but she used her status as daughter-of-CEO to get me a job as a lawyer for Dare Enterprises. Rachel and I soon progressed from being just friends to dating. Well Thalia dumped me first. It still hurts. Basically this is what happened:

_*Flashback*_

_I groaned as I woke up with a huge headache. I opened my eyes and wondered what that annoying beeping sound was. I realized it was my phone; I had received a text. I flipped open my phone to see two words: _We're over. _It was from Thalia._

_"Nico!" It was Rachel, "OMIGOD what's wrong?"_

_"Erm…Thalia just dumped me?" I still was trying to process it._

_She gasped, "Oh my, that's why she was dirty dancing with that guy."_

_"What guy?" I snapped._

_"Um…you don't really want to know. It was pretty bad, she was all over him. I tried to pull her away but she wouldn't listen to me." And that's when I knew we were really over._

_*End flashback*_

Now I'm with Rachel who got me a job and we're happily together. I think. Anyways it was really weird seeing Thalia here especially with Rachel…hopefully we won't run into each other too much…or maybe we will.

**Sadly I need an OC. Should be a guy who works at Dare Enterprises, same age as Thalia and Nico and a demigod (should not be a Big Three Child). Try to make him as opposite from Nico as possible. Please leave your OC in the reviews because I'm really lazy about checking PMs!**

**Hope you liked the beginning of the sequel! Now review! :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thalia's POV**

I went home. I ate dinner. I went to bed. I did not dream of Nico…fine I lied. I hadn't seen him in a whole year so I guess I had blocked him from my mind. But no, I did not fall into some kind of depression, unlike that character from Light-Twi, Ella or something. I did date other guys, but it was really hard finding guys I wanted to date. No demigod guy would go out with me, they always went running off mumbling something about not wanting to "incur the wrath of Hades" as one Hermes camper put it.

And it was no fun dating mortals. I mean these guys tried to protect me! I'm a demigod! I even ended up killing monsters on my dates while I was in the "bathroom". So yeah, for me the dating scene's not been that great.

I thought about tomorrow and wondered if I'd see him around. Undoubtedly the redheaded devil would be clinging onto his arm. And the worst part was that her father was now my boss so I couldn't…you know accidentally have her lunch blow up in her face or something. Angst. Oh well, I've got a big day ahead of me tomorrow. GOOD NIGHT SELF.

-next day-

I once again woke up quite late and went through my morning ritual, though admittedly I used my daughter of Zeus powers to toast my bread instead of using my handy dandy toaster. I took a cab to Dare Enterprises and a secretary redirected me to my new office. I took a look at my surroundings. I had huge windows which gave me an awesome view of the New York skyline and ironically, the Empire State Building. Light flooded into the office, landing on a nice shiny desk. There were a few filing cabinets that had a few folders in them. There was a brand new computer waiting to be used. All in all, it was an awesome office.

I sat in the plush leather chair that had been provided for me and turned on the computer to see a few messages in my office inbox.

_Ms. Thalia Grace, _

_Congratulations upon obtaining the position of Head of the Green Department! Attached below are your instructions to begin the…_blah blah blah…long list of instructions…

_Sincerely, Mr. J. K. Dare, CEO of Dare Enterprises_

There were a few more emails from secretaries to inform me how things were run around here, where the bathroom was, where the café was etc.

At the very bottom there was an email from an Alexander Green. Curiously I opened the email:

_Dear Ms. Thalia Grace,_

_Welcome to the Green Department! I'm your second in command and would like to meet you as soon as possible! Would it be possible for you to meet me at the café around noon? _

_Sincerely Yours,_

_Alexander Green_

I looked at the clock; it was only 8 'o' clock. I typed back an email saying I'd be delighted to meet him. I hoped he wasn't a creepy old man or something. Now! Time to work!

-4 slavish hours later-

*Grumble* Thank you stomach for informing us all how hungry I am. That's when I realized I was supposed to meet Achilles or something! Maybe it was Ajax? I checked the email, nope just plain ol' Alexander. I checked the clock, 12:10! Crap, I was late!

I sprinted to the elevator at a speed that would have made Chiron proud and pushed the 1st floor button with enough force to actually jump start it with my own electrical powers. My bad. When the door opened I walked out slowly, trying to look professional as if being late was no big deal. I walked into café and looked around for Alexander Green.

"Um, are you Thalia Grace?" a masculine voice called from behind me. I whirled around to see a guy, maybe 6' 2" with lanky long legs and arms. He had brown hair with blond highlights (probably from the sun) that fell perfectly in his green eyes. Actually he was kinda good looking…okay who am I kidding, I almost died and went to heaven at that moment.

"Yup! That's me." I said holding out my hand, "Nice to meet you." He grinned a wide toothy grin and I instantly knew he was one of those easy-going guys who you could depend on.

"Pleasure. I'm Alexander Green, but you can call me Alex." He said, smiling broadly.

"What about Xander?" I said in a voice that came dangerously close to sounding flirty.

"Nope",he said popping the P, "Only my mom calls me that." I laughed and he directed me to a table. He even pulled the chair out for me like a gentleman. How nice.

We ordered lunch and spent maybe a half an hour just talking about ourselves. It wasn't even work related. I learned that the part about his mom really wasn't true, he met her only once or twice. That's sad, but I can relate being a demigod myself. His dad got him into gardening as a kid and he really grew to love the earth which is why he joined the Green Department. Apparently his favorite food was cereal, the only thing he had in common with his mom apart from being a tree-hugger. Huh. That's interesting.

"Whoa look at the time!" he said looking at his watch, "It's almost 12:30!"

I groaned, "I guess it's time to go back to that ridiculously irritating thing called 'work'?"

He laughed, "Sorry." There was a crash in the kitchen. I stood up immediately, on alert, my battle instincts kicking in. Then I remembered Alex was still here and he was a mortal. I had to protect him. And that's when we heard screams.

**Alex's POV (Excited are you? ;) )**

Wow this Thalia chick was awesome. She was pretty, smart, and funny. I literally spent telling her my life's story in a half hour and she actually listened, injecting her own random hilarious remarks. I mean I meant for this to be a formal meeting to meet my colleague but she ended up being really cool. And she was hot. I mean, smoking fiery Apollo hot, without being slutty. Her hair was black and spiky and I felt like her piercing blue eyes could see right through me.

"Whoa look at the time!" I said looking at my watch, "It's almost 12:30!" Too bad though.

She groaned, "I guess it's time to go back to that ridiculously irritating thing called 'work'?"

She's hilarious, "Sorry." I replied sadly.

There was a crash in the kitchen. I stood up immediately, on alert. Then I realized Thalia had too, but why? She's a mortal…I have to protect her. Before I could stop her she ran into the kitchen as if it was the natural thing to do so. I knew something was up then since no normal mortal girl would go toward the source of piercing shrieks.

I ran after her. The Minotaur was in there.

"Yo ugly, how many times does Percy have to kill you?" she taunted. Wait how did she know who Percy was? Like, the legit Percy Jackson. It roared at her, "Don't like that, huh? How about this?" I stood there, frozen.

She pulled a sword out of nowhere and slashed at it. She feinted and threw the sword into her left hand. She sliced at its arm and suddenly I realized that I need to do something. I pulled out a dagger and aimed for its heart. Well…sadly I missed. But I did give it the distraction for Thalia to stab it in the heart. It exploded.

"Yes!" Thalia crowed victoriously, "Wait…you threw the dagger? You can see through the Mist?" I guess I better fess up.

"Yeah I'm a demigod. And you must be one too?" I said.

"Daughter of Zeus, you?" she said casually.

"Son of Demeter." I replied.

**OMG I SERIOUSLY WANTED TO END IT HERE BUT THEN I KNEW ANGRY REVIEWERS WOULD BE AFTER ME TO THROW ME INTO THE PITS OF TARTARUS SO I DIDN'T. YOU SHOULD REVIEW THIS STORY JUST FOR THAT REASON.**

She snorted. "What?" I asked defensively. No one respects kids of Demeter! Apparently they think we're flower-planting ninnies. But trees can be cool too!...I think.

"Nothing." She said, "I should have guessed when you said cereal was your favorite food."

I laughed, "Why?"

She hesitated and then said, "Oh…I used to date a son of Hades. He told me about…erm…Demeter's little obsession with cereal." Her face closed up and her body language told me that this 'son of Hades' was a forbidden topic.

I nodded, "Well I guess we better get back to work."

"Yup." And she quickly walked out of there.

As I went back to my office her words rang in my ears. _Oh…I used to date a son of Hades._ I knew only one son of Hades, and that was Nico. I'll bet my favorite yellow tulips that he's the guy she used to date. Now normally I'm the kind of guy who gets along with everyone, but I really hate Nico.

Rachel and I used to be really close, practically best friends until he came into the picture. He stole her from me and besides I hated the guy. I personally felt he was depressing and that all his years of studying law made him an arrogant jerk. And after the promotion he got from Rachel's dad, he was insufferable. I tried to avoid him as much as I could but that meant I never got to spend time with Rachel.

Anyways, it's back to work.

**AHHH THE NEW DEMIGOD IS ALEX, SON OF DEMETER! Did anyone else notice how much he sucked at fighting? That was intentional ;) (remember that for later) Thanks for the 17 reviews just for the first chapter! :)**

**Review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Nico's POV**

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Argh why must alarm clocks be so loud? I glared at it but it continued assaulting my ears so I got up. I took a quick shower and changed into a suit, Armani, of course. I got into my sleek black car (a gift from daddy dear) and drove to work.

-driving-

I took the elevator to my office, the unlucky 13th floor.

"Heyyyyy", a voice called to me. I grinned. Rachel was sitting in my squishy leather chair, her legs up on my desk. She was wearing a skirt…a really short one and long black heels.

"Hey there, beautiful." I said walking over to her and leaning on my desk, "Nice skirt."

She rolled her eyes and giggled, "Come here, you." I gladly obliged. Maybe Rachel wasn't the bright bulb in the chandelier but she was a damn good kisser. She moved so that I could sit in the chair and she sat on my lap **(A/N: Sorry readers…but they ARE dating, they need to be coupley :( ). **I was…ahem, occupied when I heard a cough at my door. I looked up.

It was Thalia.

Of course it _would _be her because the Three Fates hate me which means I always get caught up in awkward situations. I tried to detangle myself from Rachel but she had me locked in a death gripe and wouldn't let go.

"Um, Thalia honey?" Rachel asked, "This really isn't a good time. Can we talk later?"

Thalia gave Rachel one of her famous death glares, "Yeah I really don't want to be here either but sadly I have orders from higher powers to retrieve Nico for a quest."

"From Zeus?" I asked, confusedly.

She rolled her eyes and gave me a "you-are-an-imbecile" look, "No from Mr. Dare. He's calling a meeting right now…so I'd make yourself erm…presentable." Apparently referring to my loosened tie and slightly unbuttoned shirt. Then she left.

"Ugh do you have to go?" Rachel asked, pulling me closer.

"Sorry babe." I said, pushing her gently off me and fixing my tie, "He might be your dad, but he's my boss."

"Can I come?" she asked, hopefully.

"Well…this meeting seems to be work related and I know you and your dad have a deal about you not getting involved in company meetings so…" I trailed off. Rachel looked pretty pissed, "But I'll meet you for lunch?"

"OMIGODS TOTALLY!" she squealed giving me a hug, "See you later Nicky!" She kissed my cheek and left.

I made my way towards the elevator to Mr. Dare's office which was on the top floor, Floor 20. The elevator stopped on the 14th floor to reveal Alexander Green, son of Demeter.

I nodded politely but otherwise didn't say a thing. I really didn't like this guy, he was a typical Demeter kid. Whiny, wimpy, and all he really cared about was some goddamn grass. Plus he was really touchy about the Hades-Persephone-Demeter thing. I mean, give it a rest! It's been like four millennia since that happened! I've even talked to Persephone and she's said that she's grown to love Hades (cue "awing"). Plus these Demeter kids hate me because their stupid flowers die in winter. Yeah Hades is the God of Death but it's Demeter's fault the plants die! They die because she goes into a six-month depression! It's not even like I go around stomping the life outta their stupid plants. Do I look like NICO FLOWER-KILLER AND LAWNMOWER? The only Demeter kid who I've met and respect is Katie Gardner. She's really passionate about her plants but she doesn't treat me badly for being Hades's kid. Anyways my little rant is over.

The elevator stopped at the top floor and Alex got out without giving me a second glance. I snorted to myself and followed. I entered Mr. Dare's office to see Mr. Dare, Thalia, and Alex already seated. I took a seat across from Thalia and next to Mr. Dare, who was at the head of the table.

"Ah, Nico my boy! Good to see you! Taking good care of my little girl?" he asked in his booming voice.

"Yes, sir." I said politely. Thalia stifled a snort. Then only did I notice how close Alex was sitting to her. It was more than colleague close…it was I-think-you're-super-hot-and-I-want-to-date-you close. Another thing to add to my list of things I hate about him. By the way, this really had nothing to do with Thalia, I just didn't want him perving on her or something.

"Good, good. Now have you met Thalia Grace yet?" he asked me.

"Yes we've known each other for quite some time." Oh man that was awkward. Thalia was avoiding my gaze and Alex the Perv was moving ever closer to her.

"And you know Alex, as well?" he asked happily. Sadly yes, I do know Alex the Creep. Pedophile. Whatever you wanna call him.

"Yes, sir." I replied.

"Excellent! Then the three of you will have no problem traveling to Los Angeles together!" WHAT?

**Thalia's POV**

CRAZY MAN OFF HIS ROCKER! HE WANTED ME, NICO, AND ALEX TO TRAVEL CROSS COUNTRY…TOGETHER?

I cleared my throat, "Come again, sir?"

"You see there are many companies in California that make solar panels and they prefer to conduct operations face-to-face as opposed to over the phone or email. As head and deputy of the Green Department, I am counting on you to make sure these transactions take place." Mr. Dare seemed very pleased with himself.

"Uh, sir…why am I going?" Nico asked, "I'm not in the Green Department."

"Because I need a lawyer to travel with them to do the paperwork, work out the fineprint, and make sure the deals are written in our favor!" Ugh, he had to have a valid reason?

The phone rang and Mr. Dare picked it up. It looked like an important call and he completely ignored the three of us. I sat there awkwardly trying not to look at Nico. My ADHD mind kept drifting off…was Alex sitting closer to me or what? He and Nico seemed to have a mutual hate relationship…

…whoa they're so different…like Alex is easy going and you always know how he's feeling while Nico is more closed and mysterious. Alex looked uncomfortable in dress clothes, wearing only a dress shirt and a loosened tie while Nico was all style, wearing a very professional black suit that made him look...um...professional! That's what I was going for! I promise!

They were both good looking but Alex's face screamed "LOVE ME!" and was adorable while Nico had a darker, sexier vibe. Oh my gods. I did not just think that. I am going to blot that from my permanent memory…I blushed. Alex noticed.

"Hey Thals, why you blushing?" he teased, "Is it because I'm here?" Nico shot him a dirty look.

"I…um…" He moved closer, casually draping his arm on the shoulder of my chair. Nico looked like he wanted to throttle him.

"It's okay babe." Alex said, "I tend to have that effect on beautiful women." Oh my gods I bet my face was bright red.

"What effect?" Nico snapped, "Being incredibly irritating?" We both looked at him. Alex recovered first and continued, "It's okay Thalia if you're attracted to me, I _am _incredibly sexy."

WHAT? Yes he was cute. Yes he was adorable. Yes he was even kind of hot. But no, he was not a sex god, leave that to Ni – I am not going to finish that sentence. **(A/N: Who else thinks there's a difference between cute/adorable and hot/sexy? I do!)**

Luckily Mr. Dare saved me from answering by finished his call, "Are we all clear?" he asked.

"I'm not objecting to this trip, but this is my second day on the job. Why are you sending on a business trip without seeing how I work?" I asked, truthfully.

Mr. Dare laughed, "I like your bluntness young lady. But Nico here personally recommended you for head of the Green Department and seeing how he's turning out to be a fine young man, I took his input into consideration!" Whoa whoa whoa, back up. _Nico freaking influenced me getting a job? _Nico was avoiding my eyes and coloring slightly.

"I…erm…thanks Nico?" I said in shock.

"Uh…donmentionit." He mumbled.

Alex spoke for the first time, "So when are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow, preferably. You tickets have already been booked, you fly from JFK to LAX tomorrow. Hotel reservations have been made. Initially you should be there for three to four days, but that may change depending on how the negotiations go. Oh! And you'll be issued credit cards that will link you to the company's bank account but I trust you'll use them wisely?" he asked pointedly. We all nodded.

"Will Rachel be coming with us?" Nico asked politely. PLEASE SAY NO, PLEASE SAY NO.

"No." YES! "While I do understand the…erm…feelings between you and my daughter I will not send her traipsing across the country with you. I wouldn't want her to…er…lose anything." BAHAHAHAHA Nico turned bright red at that! If he means her virginity, sorry Daddy Dare! That was gone a looooong time ago! I managed to convert my storm of laughter into a choking coughing fit.

"Thalia! Are you okay?" Alex practically pounced on me, worried.

"I…haha…am…fine." I said, taking huge gasps between each word, "Don't…worry…about…me…wouldn't…don't…lose…your…" and I burst into another storm of laughter. Mr. Dare looked confused, Nico glared at me.

"You're now dismissed." Mr. Dare said.

"…bye…!" I managed.

"Good Bye sir." Nico muttered.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Dare!" Alex, the suck up said.

**Bahahahaha AWKWARD MOMENT! Thank you so much for the 29 reviews for just 2 chapters! That's amazing, I can't believe how enthusiatic the response to this story has been! Review :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thalia's POV**

I had my stuff packed and I was waiting for the company car to come and pick me up. I can't believe it. I have to spend at least three days with Nico. At least Rachel won't be around.

A honk woke me up from my day dreams and I looked up. My jaw dropped. This wasn't a company 'car' it was a company stretch limo! Nico got out and opened the door for me. Wonder-struck I blindly got in.

"We gotta pick up Alex and then we're going to the airport, okay?" he said, sitting down next to me but not sitting too close.

"Nice…limo. Wow, I knew the Dares were filthy rich", emphasis on filthy for Rachel, "But I didn't think it'd be this."

He laughed, "Yeah I haven't gotten used to all their wealth." Oh that's right. He probably spends his free time maxing out Rachel's credit cards. I really didn't know what to say, so I stayed silent. I know that you're supposed to either ignore your ex or make up with them or be really bitchy towards them but I didn't know how to feel. Was I upset he was with that little slime ball? Of course. But did I really want him back? I wasn't sure the answer was 'yes' considering he'd cheated on me _and _was with the Slime ball.

"We're here." Nico didn't sound too happy. Alex got in and squashed himself in between Nico and me. I was actually pretty thankful because it was getting awkward.

"Hey Thals!" Alex said.

"Sup, bro?" I replied.

"Don't call me bro." he said, suddenly frowned, "I don't really want to be a brother to you."

"Okay?" I said…well someone was touchy.

"But you can call Nico 'bro' if you want!" he said cheerfully. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Erm…I'll pass." I said as things were getting awkward.

"Aww why not?" Alex whined, "It's not like you guys are dating or anything."

It suddenly got really quiet. Nico and I avoided looking at each other while Alex was sitting there looking confused, "Wait are you? You're cheating on Rachel with THALIA?"

"NO!" we both shouted, blushed and looked away.

"Gods Alex, you really are as stupid as you look." Nico drawled. Normally I'd yell at him for being mean but I was pretty upset, "We're not dating. We used to…a long time ago. Now we're not. Do you understand?" Though we'd been apart for a year, hearing him say the words out loud broke my heart all over again.

"Oh Thalia you poor thing." Alex clucked, "It's okay, Nico doesn't deserve you. I'm here." This was getting quite irritating. Apparently Nico thought the same thing because I shocked Alex while Nico put him in a death-like state.

"He's going to out for a while." Nico said.

"He deserves it." I snapped.

"Agreed."

-One Awkward Hour Later-

**Alex's POV**

I groaned and got up, "What happened?"

"You hit your head on something." Thalia said quickly while Nico said, "Thalia shocked you."

Thalia glared at Nico who shrugged casually.

"What?" I was still confused.

"Never mind we're here!" Thalia said. I let it pass and got out. We checked onto an American Airlines flight, Business Class.

"I hate airport security." Thalia sighed.

"No prob. I got this." Nico said. He scrunched his eyebrows together for a few seconds and then relaxed, "Okay I manipulated the Mist so that the mortals won't be able to see us until we get to our gate."

"Nice." Thalia said, sounding impressed. I personally thought he was showing off.

We made our way towards the gate and sat down. Thalia said something about going to the bathroom, leaving Nico and I alone. I could feel the hate between us like the humidity on a random day in July. We glared at each other for a while, got bored, and pretended each other didn't exist.

"I'm back!" Thalia said, "By the way, our flight has been delayed by 30 minutes."

"Too bad." Nico murmured.

"What? You can't manipulate the plane to come sooner?" I snapped.

Thalia looked surprised, "Yo, chill Alex. It's only half an hour."

"Yeah Alex." Nico smirked, "_Chill._"

"You, shut up." Thalia said to Nico.

"Yes Ma'am."

-30 minutes later-

Thalia decided to take a short cat nap while Nico and I ignored each other.

_"American Airlines Flight 314 has arrived. Business Class check-in has begun. Please have your ticket ready."_

"That's us." Nico said.

"Thank, Captain Obvious." I snapped.

"No prob, Lieutenant Sarcasm." Why'd he have to get the last word? Grr.

"Thalia! Wake up!" I said, shaking her slightly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Nico said.

"WAKE UP! Why not - " *sizzle*, "Owowowowowow."

Thalia rubbed her eyes, "What happened?"

Nico started laughing and she glared at him, "Nothing…we have to board now."

She got up, "Alright." We walked to the check-in counter and boarded the plane. I looked at my seat number: A-1 _Business. _Thalia was A-2 _Business, _and Nico was A-3 _Business. _Awesome! Since this was business class, there were only two seat per aisle, which means I got to sit next to Thalia _and _Nico would be far far FAR away, across the aisle. Victory. Maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad.

**Nico's POV**

If I didn't like Alex before, I really hated him now. He was an obnoxious little bug that I would like to squash and then send to the burning pits of Tartarus. As the son of Hades, I can probably arrange that.

We'd been flying for four hours and we had another two hours to go. I'd fell asleep for the first three hours and was now watching _Kung Fu Panda. _Don't give me that look! It's an epic movie! The only other option was the Disney rendition of _Hercules _and considering it made my dad the villain, I wasn't very inclined to watch it. On the other hand I could see Alex watching it with immense sadistic pleasure. Every now and then he would throw me a dirty look or leer at Thalia. It was like a cycle: Leer, Dirtylook, MakefunofHades. Jerk.

Thalia was totally out of it and she had fallen asleep on Alex's shoulder which gave him a prime leering position. Why'd she pick today of all days to wear a V-neck? I decided that I needed to do something. I'd been working on my Hades-powers and I'd learned how to put someone in a deathlike state, but also how to wake them up. And no I wasn't waking Thalia up because I cared about her like that. I just didn't appreciate Alex the Creeper's behavior.

I slowed Thalia's heartbeat down until she was completely sedated. Then I sent it racing up which resulted in her jerking upright, spilling water all over Alex's pants, which caused him to fall out of his seat (the idiot wasn't wearing a seatbelt), which caused him to collide with the food cart, which caused the flight attendant to throw a mini-temper tantrum. Success!

Thalia bit her lip, hard, probably in an attempt not to laugh. I, on the other hand, started cracking up.

"di Angelo! What did you do?" Alex said in a voice that was supposed to be intimidating but wasn't really effective because the water made him look like he had…a little accident.

"It wasn't me!" I said in my most innocent voice, "If there's anyone you should be blaming, it's Thalia!"

"What?" she glared at me. I inwardly cringed.

"She's the one who spilled water on you!" I said.

"ENOUGH." The flight attendant thundered, "Shut UP. Sit DOWN. Stay THERE."

And so the three demigods meekly said, "Yes Ma'am."

**Should I have Thalia's, Alex's and Nico's POV in every chapter? **

**Thanks for the 45 reviews! Review! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I honestly don't think this chapter is as good as the other ones...I guess its more of a "filler" chapter, the only important part is at the bottom. Sorry if this chapter is boring :(**

**Thalia's POV**

We took a company car that was waiting for us to a five star hotel. And it was amazing. It was huge, over 30 floors of luxury. Even Nico looked impressed. We checked in and had three rooms on the 15th floor which was high enough to give us a good view, but not too high.

I must say though, it was the most awkward elevator ride ever. Here's a breakdown:

Floors 1-5: Nico and Alex glare at each other

Floor 6: Hot guy comes in and tries to talk to Thalia. Nico and Alex glare at hot guy.

Floor 7: Hot guy leaves and Nico and Alex glare at each other.

Floor 8: Thalia attempts to make conversation.

Floor 9: Thalia fails.

Floor 10: Pretty girl comes in and tries to flirt with Alex. Alex puts arm around Thalia and pretends Thalia is his girlfriend. Thalia has no idea what's going on and plays along. Nico glares at Alex and Thalia.

Floor 11: Pretty girl gets off but Alex leaves his arm around Thalia. Thalia squirms uncomfortably. Alex doesn't notice. Nico glares at wall.

Floor 12: Thalia slowly creeps away from Alex's arm until she's backed up against doors, which _conveniently _(sarcasm) opens at that moment. Thalia falls into another hot guy's arm. Nico and Alex practically throttle the guy and he runs away, screaming like a little girl to the stairs.

Floor 13: All three stand in awkward silence.

Floor 14: Thalia's stomach rumbles loudly. Nico and Alex laugh at poor Thalia. Alex suggests that they all take a shower and go out to dinner.

Floor 15: Nico and Thalia agree and they all get off and go to rooms.

I took a quick shower before trying to decide what to wear. I decided to wear casual clothes, which means black skinny jeans, black converse, and a dark purple t-shirt. I put my hair in a ponytail and put extra earrings in each ear (two piercings in each ear, but I wear only one for work purposes). I got out seeing Nico and Alex already there. Nico was wearing black jeans, and a gray t-shirt. Alex was wearing a bright yellow polo and blue jeans. I think I lost my eyesight momentarily.

"Your polo is blinding me." I teased. He laughed and said, "You're too dark. You should wear more colors."

I ignored the flicker of annoyance that went through me and said, "Nah. Besides black is a color and I'm wearing a purple shirt."

He disagreed, "Black's not _really _a color. It absorbs everything else…like death." Nico twitched and said, "You gotta problem with death, Flower Boy?"

I snorted, "_Flower _Boy?"

Alex looked mollified, "Flowers are cool, okay? What's your favorite flower, Thalia? I'm sure it's something beautiful like tulips or daises."

"Black roses." Nico answered before I could open my mouth. Alex and I stared at him before he said, "Can we eat now? I'm hungry."

"Uh…sure." I said, "Should we go to the hotel's restaurant?"

Alex nodded, "Sure." And he slung his arm around my shoulders. I was a bit surprised but I decided to let it slide. After all it must be just in a friendly way, right?

**Nico's POV**

I was fuming by the time we reached the restaurant. Alex was holding onto Thalia like she was his property and she didn't even seem to mind! Where's the Miss Independent Thalia I know and love? Well…not love…but you get the point!

We got a table for three and I looked at the menu. I decided to order a sandwich. Not very original, I know but I wasn't in the mood to taste new gourmet food.

"There's so much stuff on this!" Thalia said happily, "I could spend hours trying everything!"

Alex laughed and said, "But then you'd get fat." Was is just me or did I see a murderous gleam in Thalia's eyes? Nah probably not.

"Alexander Green, are you calling me _fat?_" she said in mock-annoyance. Obviously Alex the Idiot didn't catch on to the fact that she was joking and immediately started sputtering, "No…of course not! You're not fat! You have a great figure!"

Thalia blinked and then blushed, "Thanks?"Alex leaned back in relief.

"Well if you two lovebirds are done, can we order now?" I said irritably.

"We're not lovebirds." Thalia said quickly.

"Yet." Alex said and winked at her. Someone kill me now.

"Waiter!" I called before she could reply, "I'll have a sandwich."

"I'll have spaghetti." Alex said, "And the lady will have a salad."

"Haha very funny. I'm quite capable of ordering myself. I'll have pizza." Thalia said and now the murderous gleam was back. The waiter, sensing a tantrum coming up, left quickly.

Thalia turned to Alex, "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Alex the Clueless asked.

"Why'd you order for me?" The murderous gleam was replaced with two piercing blue eyes…if looks could kill, Alex would have visited Hades 100 times over by now.

"I dunno…that's what gentleman do, right?" Alex said, "Besides I thought you'd like salad. It's low fat and healthy."

Thalia glared at him and said, "I don't do rabbit food. I'd rather eat whatever I want and exercise as oppose to starving myself."

Alex shrugged, "Sorry." Then he did puppy eyes which chicks apparently can't resist, "I'm sorry, pleaseeeee forgive me?"

She looked at him for a second then sighed, "Fine."

He grinned in victory. I resisted the urge to stab his eyes out. This was the worst dinner ever.

**Alex's POV**

After dinner was over I asked, "Hey Thalia, wanna take a walk?"

"Sure." She replied.

"See you guys tomorrow morning." Nico said, looking annoyed and he went back to his room. Sucker. I knew there was something between him and Thalia even if he didn't want to admit it. Well too bad for him, I was going to get the girl this time.

Thalia and I went outside and she said, "Wow the night sky's so beautiful." And it really was, with the stars out and the full moon.

I said, "Not as beautiful as you."

She grinned and rolled her eyes, "You sure like complimenting girls, huh?"

"Only the pretty ones." I winked. She blushed. SCORE!

We walked around for a little while longer in a comfortable silence before we went inside. I was standing outside her room and then I said, "Hey Thalia?"

"Yes?" And then I didn't reply I captured her lips with mine. I felt her gasp and then relax into me. Her lips were soft and I could feel tiny electric shocks coming off of her.

Then I pulled back and said, "Good night." And I walked back to my room leaving her standing there in beliderment.

**Did anyone else notice what a controlling person Alex is? *cough cough hint hint***

**Thank you for the 55 reviews! Again, I apologize for the boringness of this chapter...review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thalia's POV**

When I woke up in the morning, I was wondering where I was and where my annoying alarm clock was. (And no, you sick perverts, I wasn't in Alex's room). That's when I realized I was in the hotel and someone was pounding on my door. I groaned and walked over there in a daze. My eyes weren't even completely open.

I yanked the door opened and roared, "WHAT?" Then I blinked and realized it was Nico.

Nico looked at me, blushed and looked away. I looked down at what I was wearing, a cami and shorts so short that they should be illegal. Well doesn't his slut of his girlfriend wear less in public? Anyways…

"Erm we have a meeting in twenty minutes?" He said hesitantly.

My eyes popped wide open, "What time is it?"

"7 'o' clock."

"WHAT? It's supposed to be at 8:30!" There goes my beauty sleep.

"Yeah…they rescheduled." Obviously.

I rubbed my eyes, "Okay I'll meet you two in ten, alright?"

He shifted uneasily. I stared at him pointedly until he cleared his throat, "Uh…well the owner of the company is kinda a daughter of Hermes? And she doesn't trust children of Demeter so she kinda lied to us and said there was a meeting at 8:30 to throw Flower-Boy off." I get the feeling that the Fates hate me. A quick recap, for all you wondering why exactly my destiny keeps fudging up…

1. I get an awesome new job! Who else works there? Nico!

2. I get to go on an all-expense paid business trip! Who's coming with me? Niiiiiicooooo

3. I get to attend a top secret meeting at 7:20 in the morning! Who else gets to attend? Seriously if you don't know the answer to that question, go read a Percabeth story.

"Hello? Thalia? Pikachu? Thals?" That got me out of my daze, "What did you call me?" I snapped.

"Thalia?"

"No, after."

"Thals?"

"Before."

"Pikachu?" I glared at him for a few more seconds then said, "See you in ten minutes" and slammed the door in his perfect face. Seriously how dare he use 'Pikachu' as a method to get me out of my thoughts? That was always a messed up inside joke that we had from…before. I glared at myself in the mirror and then a cat-like grin appeared on my face. Well if Nico wanted to bring the past then so would I.

-10 minutes last-

I had my favorite heels on along with a black dress that looked eerilyish like my prom dress but more professional. I put on more makeup than usual, which basically meant eyeliner, mascara, and some eyeshadow. Yeah, I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to makeup but it's all good. The extra stuff on my eyes made them pop even more, making them more piercing. I've found that few people can look me in the eye when I've got my Thalia-Blue-eyes-that-kill look. Sadly Nico is one of those people. Who does he think he is? GOD? Well...the son of one...

I pulled open the door and internally cackled when I saw Nico's eyes widen a bit before he quickly looked away. NEWFLASH: I SAW THAT. He had been casually leaning on the wall wearing a suit. I don't know why but ever since he turned 21, he's had an obsession with looking impeccable. And he always did…I mean…nevermind. I'm not going to finish that sentence. It must be a child of Hades thing.

"Ready?" I said, injecting my voice with fake sweetness. He nodded and turned to walk down to the elevator. Not in a talkative mood, eh? I was pretty surprised that the silence in the elevator was comfortable. We were both spacing off separately but it wasn't awkward. That's one thing I like about Nico. LikeD. Past tense. He didn't always have to fill silences with meaningless words.

The door opened and Nico walked us to the parking lot where yet another limo was waiting. I could totally get used to it. He held the door open and I slid in.

"We should be there in like five minutes." He said. I nodded and we fell back into silence.

-silent five minute car ride later-

We…how I hate that blasted pronoun…were led to the owner's office by some really perky secretary who kept looking at Nico like he was a cookie. I twitched inwardly. Then I twitched for twitching. Then I…you know what? Let's just fast forward to part where we met the owner. Her name was Jeanine Johnson and she looked to be about thirty. She took one look at us and said, "Never thought I'd see an actual Zeus-Hades couple." TWITCH.

"Excuse me?" Nico said sounding offended. WELL YOU'RE NOT SO HOT YOURSELF. Just look at the girlfriend you have now. You could have had a totally kick-ass girl who's awesome or that little slut. And who did you choose?

"Ahh I was kidding. You should have seen your face." She smirked. I instantly liked her. Anyone who can talk back to Nico is automatically in my good books.

"She's right. It was priceless." I smirked. Nico rolled his eyes and we got the meeting started.

-1 Hour Later-

We had been discussing the pros and cons of separate solar panels vs. whole boards…maybe it sounds boring but Jeanine was really into it. I checked my phone and it said: 9 New Messages:

_THALIA WHERE ARE YOU? –Alex_

_You can't be mad about last night…are you? –Alex _Gulp. I had completely forgotten about…The Kiss.

_I'm sorry if you thought I was moving too fast…please reply? –A_**(A/N: No pretty little liars reference intended)**

"What happened 'last night'?" Nico asked leaning over reading my phone. I blushed and pulled it away, "Nothing."

He narrowed his eyes, "So Flower-Boy's not only feeling lonely cuz he got ditched but now I find out there's something going on here?"

I glared back, "It's none of your business. It's not like I walked into you and Rachel or anything."

He flushed slightly and said, "You were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yeah and you happened to be looking at my phone at the wrong time." I snapped back. How dare he act like it was okay for him to be acting like rabbits on something illegal with Rachel and then ask my about my night with Alex?

Jeanine who had been discussing something with a secretary turned back to us, "Okay I think we're done for today. We'll meet tomorrow, same time?"

"Sure." I said trying not to let my irritation show.

"No problem." Nico said with gritted teeth.

We walked back into the elevator into a tense silence. I felt like I could cut the loathing with a knife. We had passed four floors when suddenly the elevator stopped but the doors didn't open. I sighed and pressed the 'Open' button. Nothing happened. I pressed it again. And again.

I was about to electrocute it when Nico grabbed my wrist, "Don't." he said, "You don't want to send us crashing down." How did he know I was about to use my powers? I stared pointedly at my wrist until he let go.

"Fine." I said, "I'll call the main floor."

I picked up the white phone that was there for emergencies and dialed the number. After a few rings someone picked up, "Hello?" The voice was girly and happy sounding.

"Hi. My name is Thalia Grace and I'm here with Nico di Angelo." I heard giggles from the other end, "Our elevator is stuck. Could you please send someone to fix it?"

"Only until you talk things out!" What? Wait that voice sounded scaryishly familiar.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"You're going to be stuck until you put aside your differences!" Meanwhile Nico was looking at me curiously wondering what was going on. Well I decided I was going to keep him in the dark.

Then it clicked, "_Aphrodite?_" I hissed into the phone, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Pushing my favorite couple after Percabeth in the right direction!" She giggled and hung up.

I groaned and then realized: I was stuck in a tiny four by four foot space with Nico di Angelo. My ex, my backstabber, the person I was trying so hard to avoid. What the hell do I do now?

**It's been awhile since I updated…hope you liked it! And I got Alex out of the picture for the time being! Yay~~**

**Thank you for the 71 reviews! Review! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thalia's POV**

So I'm stuck in an elevator. With Nico di Angelo, my ex-boyfriend who happens to be slouching against the wall occasionally glaring at me. And the worst part? He makes sulking look _good. _What the heck…sometimes I hate the fates, if you didn't notice before. We had been sitting there for about ten minutes occasionally glaring at each other.

"So basically, Aphrodite locked us in a freaking elevator until we talk things out?" Nico glowered, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes." I snapped back, with just as much irritation, "Why we have to talk is a complete mystery to me. You cheated on me, we broke up, end of story."

Nico sat up fast, "What?"

I rolled my eyes and said slowly, "You cheated on me. We broke up." And a piece of my just died inside.

"No I didn't." He looked confused and angry.

"What?" Was he questioning me? I saw him and Rachel together!

"I didn't cheat on you." He stood up straight, "You cheated on _me._"

I scoffed, "Are you for real? I didn't cheat on you; you're the one who woke up half-naked and drunk next to Rachel!"

"You're the one who was grinding with some guy! And you were totally wasted!" He shouted.

"What the hell Nico! No I was with you the whole time, until I blacked out! Then I woke up and found you sleeping with her!" I shouted back.

"I only was with her because you were with someone else!" He snarled.

"I was not with someone else!" I felt angry tears threatening to fall. I would never cheat on Nico!, "And you broke up with me over text without explaining why!"

"I broke up with you because you were with Rachel! And I wasn't with anyone else!"

"Yes you were!"

"Who said?"

"RACHEL!" We both stopped and stared in realization.

"Rachel?" I whispered, "She told you I was grinding with someone else?" That dirty little…

"I…yeah." His eyes were wide, "Does that mean…we broke up…because of a misunderstanding?" The bloody fates. And it wasn't a misunderstaning. I bet you Rachel had this planned for a really long time, she always had a thing for Nico.

I gulped, "I think so."

There was an awkward pause. And let me tell you, that was the longest two minutes of my life. I decided to be the bigger person. I said, "Look. Don't break up with her now…the past is the past. We should just be…friends." Even though I just realized that you didn't cheat on me, you're still the sweet guy I knew, and I'm totally in love with you.

He nodded, "Yeah…I guess so." He looked embarrassed and then looked away, "I'm really sorry Thalia. I hope everything works up between you and Alex."

"Huh?" Alex? Oh yeah…Demeter child.

"He's obviously in love with you. And you like him too?" Did I detect a hint of jealousy? Nah, can't be. Besides, he's dating the slut. I mean, Rachel.

"I don't know. He's sweet I guess. But that's it. Like he doesn't really have a personality except when he tries to go all macho and tell me what to do." I glared at the wall. I have issues with authority. Heck, I freaking turned down Artemis's offer and I've mouthed off to Aphrodite several times. Speaking of which, "Where's Aphrodite? We've figured out our 'issues', why hasn't she opened the door yet."

"I don't know. I'll call." He picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey there!" Wow Aphrodite had a loud voice.

"We've…talked things out. Will you please let us go?"

"Nope!" She giggled.

"What? Why not?" Nico sounded pissed.

"All you have to do is kiss! On the lips!" She giggled once more and hung up. Damn, once again with the fates.

"So yeah…you head her?" Nico asked, almost shyly.

I groaned, "Unfortunately yes. Look Nico, we're friends now, right?"

He nodded.

"So all we need to do is a quick peck on the lips, and then we can leave and go on our merry way as best-friends-who-got-broken-up-by-accident-for-life, okay?"

He thought for a second, "BFWGBUBAFL?"

"Pardon?" Was he mad? Or was I just a bad kisser?

"Best-friends-who-got-broken-up-by-accident-for-life?" He smirked.

"Hey." I said defensively, "It was the best I could do."

He rolled his eyes, "Fine." He took a step towards me, till our noses were brushing up against each other. What the heck! Why was he so freaking tall! I was even wearing heels. I looked into his eyes and then brought my lips to his. I wish I could say it was a chaste peck…but it wasn't. His lips were soft and I felt myself going drunk on that stupid axe which he apparently still wore. I tangled my hands in his hair and pulled him really close to me. I wasn't even thinking at this point, just kissing. And damn was he a good kisser. While Alex's kiss had been nice and gentle and soft, it was _nothing _like this. This kiss was full of feeling, of regret and remorse, at the same time passionate and forbidden. That was really deep, huh? I should be a poet or something. Nico's hands were on the small of my back forming a cage around me, keeping me locked to him. When we broke for air (because though we're demigods, sadly we need to breathe), we stared at each other in shock and surprise. Then suddenly we sprang apart, blushing and breathing heavily. The doors opened and I quickly walked out hearing him follow me. This was going to be an awkward ride home back. Yay…

**Sorry for the short chapter :(**

**Hahaha Thalia's obsessed with Axe XD**

**Hope you liked it! Review! Thanks for the 95 reviews!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Why the hell did I stop writing this story? Lol I re-read it, and even I liked it.**

**And for some reason I can't find the original wordDOC of it .**

**Anyways, it's never too late to update, is it? **

**Recap: Nico and Thalia realize that Rachel had broken them up. Boo Rachel. Nico and Thalia decide to be friends. Boo "just friends". Aphrodite locks them in an elevator and tells them that they can't leave unless they kiss. Yay Aphrodite. **

_He rolled his eyes, "Fine." He took a step towards me, till our noses were brushing up against each other. What the heck! Why was he so freaking tall! I was even wearing heels. I looked into his eyes and then brought my lips to his. I wish I could say it was a chaste peck…but it wasn't. His lips were soft and I felt myself going drunk on that stupid axe which he apparently still wore. I tangled my hands in his hair and pulled him really close to me. I wasn't even thinking at this point, just kissing. And damn was he a good kisser. While Alex's kiss had been nice and gentle and soft, it was __nothing __like this. This kiss was full of feeling, of regret and remorse, at the same time passionate and forbidden. That was really deep, huh? I should be a poet or something. Nico's hands were on the small of my back forming a cage around me, keeping me locked to him. When we broke for air (because though we're demigods, sadly we need to breathe), we stared at each other in shock and surprise. Then suddenly we sprang apart, blushing and breathing heavily. The doors opened and I quickly walked out hearing him follow me. This was going to be an awkward ride home back. Yay…_

**Nico's POV**

Remember how I said Rachel was a good kisser? Yeah…lies. I stared at Thalia's quickly retreating form and then mentally slapped myself in the forehead. Crap, she must think I'm some kind of manwhore! I have a girlfriend and I practically assaulted her! I even promised her that it would just be a friendly, platonic peck. Not a full out make out session. Gods, no wonder she's walking away from me so quickly. I don't even blame her.

I sighed in exasperation and then followed her. She still wasn't facing me. I did not check her out. Well, maybe a bit. The dress she was wearing made me reminisce on our prom. It looked eerily familiar. I also noticed that she put in her second piercing. I was with her when she got that piercing. She had been so scared of that tiny needle going into her ear (and can you believe it? Thalia, the baddest girl I've ever known?) and had nearly stopped the circulation in my hands; she was squeezing them so hard. I grinned slightly remembering that day. Afterwards we had a chocolate ice cream eating contest. I barely won that one.

"So…where's the limo?" Thalia asked, almost shyly. Damn, I hope she doesn't think I'm some kind of perv. Leave that to Alex.

"Uh, not sure." Smooth words, Nico, nicely done. I checked my phone and texted the driver, "Oh wow."

"What?" she asked.

"Today's his wedding anniversary. He and his wife have been married for thirty-seven years and that's why he's not here. The replacement should be here soon though." I replied.

"Thirty-seven years! Aww, that's so cute!" she gushed. I raised an eyebrow at her, knowing it would piss her off, she could never do that.

"What?" she asked defensively, "I may not be from Aphrodite, but you gotta admit, that kind of love and faith is adorable."

"Sure." I said.

"Why do you sound so cynical?" she asked, "Hades got you down?"

I glared at her, "No. I just don't understand love. Not anymore." She looked away. We stood in silence until the driver arrived.

**Thalia's POV**

Nico held the door open for me and I got in without complaint. _No. I just don't understand love. Not anymore. _His words echoed in my mind. When he had said those words, his usually cold dark eyes showed something that I couldn't place? Pain? Or regret?

No, Thalia. Don't think like that and don't make assumptions and possibilities where they don't exist. I don't want to be one of those girls who dissect everything a guy says until the point where my own logic doesn't make sense anymore. And that kiss…wow. I wonder what he thinks of me. I practically ran away from him! I know right, me! Thalia! Daughter of Zeus, running away. It's just not something I do. But what was I supposed to say? _"Oh hey Nico! We've just decided to be 'just friends' but I think you're sexy and maybe we could just randomly make out every now and then? NBD, right?"_ Gah, he has a girlfriend. Hope he doesn't think I'm a slut or something.

Speaking of kissing, what about that kiss with Alex? I thought it had been nice but I threw all those thoughts away when I thought about the one with Nico. I took a peek up at him to see him glaring out the window. Roar, it had taken me like three years to train him to stop looking so angry all the time (alright, sometimes angsty Nico could be really hot), and it seemed that in just one year, he had relapsed.

"You wanna get breakfast or something?" Nico asked. Huh? I realized that we had pulled up at the hotel.

"What? Oh. Oh yeah sure. Just zoned out for a moment." I said sheepishly. He smirked. That sexy smirk. No, Thalia. Stop perving on your new 'just friend'.

"Are you going to get out of the car?" he asked, standing outside holding the door open for me.

"Huh? Oh yeah." So embarrassing. I got out and he shut the door. Then we walked up to the hotel in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, but it wasn't totally cozy either. It was like we both were waiting for something to happen and didn't know what.

"Monsters." Nico hissed under his breath. I shifted into battle mode.

"Where?" I muttered.

"To your right. They're watching us. Stand still. I'm going to put my arm around you and we're going to casually walk their way as if we're going to that little café over there."

I spotted the café, "What's with the arm?"

"It'll pull you closer to me. Then you can pull a dagger out of my pocket without being totally obvious about it. On my count, you throw, I'll follow up?"

"Gotcha."

Nico slid his arm around my shoulders and I ignored the fact that it felt so familiar to me. How did the boy keep gaining arm muscle? Hmph.

I leaned in closer to him and slid my hand down into his right pocket. I felt his breath hitch a bit and then realized any random bystander would get the wrong idea watching this. Cue blush.

I felt the dagger and muttered into his ear, "I got it."

"We're going to walk a few more feet, kay?" he said softly.

"Alright."

I leaned in a little closer to him…obviously just to conceal the dagger and I heard a chuckle rumble through him. I chose to ignore it.

"3, 2,...1!" I broke his grip on me and threw my dagger directly to my right. I whirled around to see the Minotaur!

"What the hell! I totally killed you a few days ago!" I yelled angrily.

In the meantime, Nico had conjured up a sword from nowhere and swirled around, neatly slicing its head off. Hot-man-in-suit+Sword=Me gusta.

Must. Control. Thoughts. I'm not sixteen anymore! Good looking men should not faze me so much!

Nico flipped the hair out of his eyes, then turned to me.

"Breakfast?"

**WHOOO I UPDATED. And I actually like this story. Yeahhhhh Thalico XDD**

**Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that I keep falling off the edge of this planet! School's out in 3 weeks so you can expect more updates! Here's the next one.**

**Nico's POV**

"Breakfast?" I asked her. Thalia's eyebrows were furrowed and it looked like she was concentrating really hard on something, "What's wrong?"

She looked up at me, "There's something really wrong here."

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

She took a long pause before answering.

"I 'killed' the Minotaur only a few days back. And though I know that monsters often comeback, the Minotaur is a fairly large monster. It shouldn't have come back so quickly, there's definitely something wrong here. Someone must be letting them out."

"Well it's not Hades." I said defensively.

"I never said it _was _Hades, dumbass." She snapped. Then she muttered under her breath, "You are so goddamn touchy all the time. You always were."

"Excuse me?" I snarled, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Thalia glared back at me, "Look. I talk about one thing that's remotely connected to your father and you automatically assume that I'm trying to blame him for something!"

How could she say that?

"My father has been at the mercy of yours!" I shot back, "He was forced into the Underworld, he was hated by the other gods, he got blamed for all the wars, he even got blamed for stealing you father's lightning bolt! I think I have good reason to be, as you put it, a little touchy!"

Thalia looked like she was ready to rip me to shreds just by glaring at me.

"Uh, guys?" a new voice interrupted us. Both of us snapped our heads toward the interruption. It was that asshole, Alex.

"What?" we both growled at the same time.

"Do you want breakfast?" he asked, looking at Thalia.

"Yeah Alex." She said sweetly, "I would LOVE to have breakfast with someone like YOU. Someone who is CALM and NICE and PEACEFUL. Let's GO."

She caught a hold of his arm and dragged him away leaving me glowering at their path.

**Thalia's POV**

I sat at the table waiting for Alex to bring back some coffee and bagels. When he arrived he asked, "What happened?"

I blew some hair out of my face, "Nico. Son of Hades. You know how it is."

Alex rolled his eyes, "I totally agree. I'm a son of Demeter remember? Hades' kids hate us."

"Well they apparently hate children of Zeus too." I grumbled, digging into my bagel, adding copious amounts of cream cheese.

We sat in silence for a few minutes as I chowed down when Alex finally spoke up.

"Oh yeah, where did you guys go? And what happened? You look like you've been through battle or something…but then again, arguing with a son of Hades is like being through a war." He asked.

I looked up, suddenly feeling guilty, "Oh yeah…sorry about that. We got called into a meeting early and you were sleeping so we didn't want to wake you up…" I trailed off.

"Oh." He said awkwardly.

"Uh yeah, sorry." I squirmed uncomfortably.

Another pause.

Then I said, "Well as for the battle part, the Minotaur reformed so we sorta had to send it back to Tartarus. You know, demigod duties and stuff."

"The Minotaur!" his eyes nearly popped out, "What the heck? Didn't you kill it a few days ago!"

"Yeah…that's what I'm worried about. Are monsters reforming? Because this needs to reported to the gods." I mused.

"No." he said sharply.

"What?" I asked, surprised.

He looked away, "Look…I mean the gods are great but I don't think this that big of an issue. We can probably take care of it ourselves. I mean, we're here in California, right?"

I was a bit confused, "We're in California…so…?"

"So we can enter the Underworld and check out what's happening ourselves." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I thought about what he said. He did have a point, if it turned out to be nothing, just a freak case of the Minotaur reforming then it wouldn't be worth bothering the gods. Besides, half the gods on Olympus hated me and though my father and I had a positive relationship, we didn't communicate more than once or twice a year.

"What will Nico say? He won't let us do it." I said.

"Why should we tell him?" Alex replied, "And what do you mean 'he won't let us'? Do you honestly need his approval?"

"Of course not!" I said hotly, "I'm just saying…the Underworld is his turf. It's better that we don't just waltz in."

"Wow Thalia. I didn't know you were still hung up on him." Alex said.

I was starting to get annoyed, "I'm _not _hung up on anything. There are rules, you know. You can't just go into the Underworld!"

"Percy Jackson did it."

"Percy was on a _quest. _We don't even have an oracle!" I shot back.

"Rachel." He said quietly.

"What?"

"Rachel can't give us a quest. She's the _ex_-oracle." I said. Remember? She went through puberty and decided to turn into a little bit-...not nice person.

"She still retains her powers." He said, "They're just dormant. If she tried hard enough, she could give us a quest, we could into the Underworld, and we could figure out what's happening in the Underworld."

I sat there, still. Maybe he did have a point? I mean, as a demigod, it's my duty to look into any situation which threatens the mortal world. But this seemed really risky. A quest? I haven't been on one in years…

"Well you don't have to decide now." Alex interrupted my thoughts, "It was just a suggestion. Besides, we're going to be here in California for a few more days so you can decide later."

"Yeah I guess…but wait, Rachel isn't even here? So it's not like we could have gone either way." Phew, that's a relief. It was nice to know that I had that reason to back me up.

"Huh? Oh yeah, you guys were out! While you were gone, Mr. Dare called me. Rachel's flying here to California!" he said happily.

I think a piece of my soul just died.

**Nico's POV**

I stormed up to my hotel room. Who the hell did Alex think he was? And what about Thalia? I am not touchy or angsty! I angrily blew a piece of hair out of my face. I'm so sick and tired of Alex and Thalia and Alex and Thalia, together! I can't wait for this stupid trip to be over so I can go back to New York.

I flung open my room door and immediately went to the bathroom to wash my face. I ripped my tie out and tossed my jacket into a corner. Then I noticed some makeup products in my bathroom. Um, what the hades? I sure as hell didn't use sephora…

I slammed open the bathroom door and

"Nico!" a familiar voice called out. All I saw was a flash of ginger and suddenly I was engulfed in a hug.

"Rachel?"

**ooh and the plot thickens. what are Alex's real motives? While nico and thalia get closer together? Or will rachel's presence pull them apart? leave your predictions in the reviews! btw: SCHOOL'S OUT IN 3 WEEKS. EXPECT MORE UPDATES :D**

**review!**


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